THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT OF MRS VICTOIRE INGABIRE UMUHOZA MURDERED: IN WHOSE INTEREST WAS THE CRIME COMMITTED?

This morning of the 9th March 2019, local residents along the perimeters of Gishwati forest found a dead body which was later identified as the body of Mr Anselme Mutuyimana; personal assistant of Mrs Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza: Suspicious local residents had spotted at night a white car which came along the forest, stopped, seemed to drop something and speeded off to where it had come from. In the morning residents went to check only to find a dead body and to raise alarm to the local authorities: The body was then taken to the mortuary of Rubavu hospital.

Mr Anselme Mutuyimana last known communication was at 13:07 GMT with the 2nd Vice President of FDU-INKINGI whom he told that he had gone to visit his sister and his 81 year old dad who were both in Hospital in Gisenyi.

There is strong suspicion that he was waylaid by the criminals who killed him and dumped him in the forest: According to those who saw the body, he died by strangulation, a technique of killing that has become common in Rwanda and in murders of Rwandan dissidents abroad.

The late Anselme had recently been released from Mpanga prison, where he spent 6 years, after being convicted upon a political trial. During his jail term, he was subjected to endless harassments.

We would like to recall that another FDU-Inkingi Jean Damascene Habarugira was kidnapped in May 2018 and murdered; another member Mrs Illuminée Iragena was kidnapped on her way to work on 26 March 2016 and has never been seen again: The 1st Vice President of FDU-Inkingi mysteriously disappeared from Mpanga maximum prison and all indication show that he was kidnapped by state agents.

This is a country that boasts to be very secure and which is hosting the next commonwealth summit.

Other members of the opposition like Kagwa Rwisereka were murdered and nobody has ever been convicted of that crime. In these circumstances, one wonders if there is still a room for a democratic opposition in this country.

The key question on the lips of every reasonable person is in whose interest are these crimes i.e. murders; enforced disappearances targeting opposition members, committed?

The FDU-Inkingi condemns in the strongest terms the murder of Mr Anselme Mutuyimana and call on the government to carry out a thorough investigation to identify the culprits to face the full force of the law.